Surface heater



June 26, 1951 c. w. SOWELL E 2,558,160

SURFACE HEATER Filed March 24, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 O. no I g g 1/21 1/4 N VEN TOR.

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June 26, 1951 w, SQWELL I 2,558,160-

SURFACE EATEk Filed March 24, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 270:9 Za'JOu/QZ 2 ATTORNEYS June 26, 1951 w, SQWELL 2,558,160

SURFACE HEATE Filed March 24, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 4? 22 INVENTOR.

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June 26, 1951 c. w. SOWELL SURFACE HEATER,

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A'I'I'D R N EYE Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

The invention relates to a surface heater, and more especially to a vehicular type asphalt roadbed heater.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a heater of this character, wherein the top coat of asphalt of a pavement or roadway can be conveniently softened, as an initial step in resurfacing thereof or for repairs, the heater being susceptible of lateral adjustment to give a greater broadside range of heating, enabling heating close to curbs, either at the right or at the left of the heater, from a straight course, and also permitting the said heater to closely approach opposite sides of a streetcar trackage or recede therefrom without interfering with the car trafiic.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heater of this character, wherein it is of mobile type, and is adapted for convenient handling in heating around turns, curves and corners in a roadbed, it being active during the travel thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heater of this character, wherein it will withstand tremendous heat, and is more maneuverable than other types, thus enabling the operation thereof with dispatch, and without requiring, excessive labor.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a heater of this character, which is simple in construction, thoroughly reliable and efficient in operation, strong, durable, readily and easily adjusted, either laterally to its course or vertically to a plane, unaffected.- by winds, novel in construction and, unique in assembly, economical to operate and inexpensive to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, the, invention consists in the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and illustrated in the. accompanying drawings'which disclose the preferred embodiment of the invention, and pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the heater constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan "view thereof;

Figure 3 is an end view thereof;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing the furnace of the heater laterally adjusted;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal, sectional view of the heater;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 5 and Figure '7- is a diagrammatical view of the hydraulic operating system for the heater.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, A designates generally the rear end portion of an automotive truck, which may be of any well known construe-- tion, with which is associated the heater constituting the present invention, comprising a trailer chassis frame l6, which at its front end is bolstered at [2 onto the truck, while at the rear end thereof is arranged a rear axle M 'with turning knuckle connections I 6 to rear steering wheels H3, and in this manner the chassis frame is horizontally supported and the steering of the wheels can be had in any selected manner directly from the truck or otherwisefor concurrent steering therewith. The wheels l8 are provided with hubs 29 to which may be attached in any suitable manner, rubber tired wheels for transporting the heater from one location to another after the repair work has been accomplished.

Beneath the chassis frame If! between the truck and the steering wheels [8 is a hood furnace involving a box-like body 22 fully open at its entire bottom, and the furnace is properly built to Withstand tremendous heat, since it is lined throughout the top, sides and ends, respectively, with insulation 24.

Secured to the chassis frame H1 in any suitable manner are the diametrically opposed pairs of I beams 26, and the outer flange 28 of the beams supports the horizontally disposed tracks 38, on which travel roller bearing equipped hanger carriers 32, fitted to a shiftable rigging involving respectively front and rear transversely disposed turning shafts 34 and 36, and secured to these shafts adjacent the opposite ends thereof are chain raising and lowering bell cranks 38, to which are connected suspension chains 40, anchored at 42 to the closed top .4 of the furnace or body 22, so that the open bottom of the latter can be brought close to or at any desired distance away from an asphalt roadbed or pavement for the heating thereof without scraping action thereon.

The shafts 34 and 36 are operated by throw levers 46 which are hydraulically controlled from a hydraulic cylinder 48 mounted on an intermediate frame 50, having bearing connections 52 with the shafts 34 and 36. The rigging is also shifted laterally by a hydraulically controlled hydraulic cylinder 56 which is secured by bracket 58 to the frame [0, and a throw lever 60 controlled by the jack is pivotally connected to a bracket 62 secured to the frame 50.

The body 22 is longitudinally braced and stabilized by means of longitudinally disposed linklike rods 64, pivotally connected at 66 to the body 22, and to the frame 50 at 68.

Extended into the furnace or body 22 are the fuel burning nozzles I which receive their fuel supply from a manifold I2 connected by pipe I4 connected to a fuel reservoir mounted in the compartment I6 upon the truck A. The supply pipe I4 is controlled by a valve I8 and the nozzles I0 by valves 89 for admission of fuel thereto in the proper amounts. The fuel from the nozzles is ignited in any selected manner for the heating of the furnace, which in service will heat an asphalt coating on a roadbed or pavement. The lateral shifting of the furnace permits heating close to curbs and avoids interference with streetcar trafiic when traveling close to its trackage, while the heater is traveling a straight course next thereto, as the furnace may be moved out of the way of the streetcar and relieving the truck from leaving a straight course adjacent to the track.

To facilitate the heating of the asphalt on curves and the like, the rear wheels are connected by steering linkage 82 with a tie rod 84 and steering arm 86 pivotally mounted on the frame I0 at 88 and the upper end of the arm 86 has pivotal connection with a throw lever 88' operated by a hydraulically operated cylinder or jack 99, and this jack controls the steering of the rear wheels.

In figure 7, there is shown the system for operating the cylinders as described, wherein there is provided a motor 92 driving a compressor 94 connected to a tank 96, and these elements are mounted in the compartment I6. A manifold 98 is mounted in the cab of the truck A, so that the valves I00 and IE2 for control of the cylinder 90 by conduits I99 and 08 respectively, control of valves I08 and H0 respectively for control of cylinder 59 by conduits H2 and H4, and control of valve I I6 for control of cyiinder 48 by conduit H8 are convenient for the driver of the truck. Valves i0i] and I02 are controlled in reverse open and closed relation to each other by lever I20, and valves I98 and H9 are operated in like manner by lever I22. Control of cylinder 48 requires only one valve to raise the body 22, since the weight thereof will lower it toward the surface after it has once been raised therefrom.

The operation of the surface heater is the same as for conventional surface heaters, except that the body 22 may be shifted laterally of the frame I0, either to the right or left thereof, and the rear wheels may be used to steer the heater around a curve.

It is believed that the operation and construction of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is to be understood that changes in the details of construction, arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted to, provided they fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In an asphalt surface heater, the combination which comprises a horizontally disposed chassis, supporting wheels mounted on the chassis, a rectangular shaped hood positioned below the chassis, said hood having an inclined upper surface with the height at the rear less than that of the forward end, transversely disposed tracks positioned on the chassis, hanger carriers mounted on the tracks and depending therefrom, a horizontally disposed intermediate frame suspended from the hanger carriers and positioned between the chassis and hood, a transversely disposed hydraulic cylinder suspended from the chassis, means for actuating the intermediate frame laterally of the chassis by the said hydraulic cylinder, bell cranks pivotally mounted on the said intermediate frame, means suspending the hood from the bell cranks, a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the said intermediate frame for actuating the bell cranks to raise and lower the said hood, and fuel burning nozzles extended into the said hood.

2. In an asphalt surface heater, the combination which comprises a horizontally disposed chassis, a transversely disposed axle on which the rear end of the chassis is carried, wheels pivotally mounted on the ends of the axle, a hydraulic cylinder positioned on the chassis for steering the-rear end of the chassis, means connecting the said hydraulic cylinder positioned on the chassis to the wheels pivotally mounted on the ends of the axle providing means for steering the heater, a rectangular shaped hood positioned below the chassis, said hood having an inclined upper surface with the height at the rear less than that of the forward end, transversely disposed tracks positioned on the chassis, hanger carriers mounted on the tracks and depending therefrom, a horizontally disposed intermediate frame suspended from the hanger carriers and positioned between the chassis and hood, a transversely disposed hydraulic cylinder suspended from the chassis, means for actuating the intermediate frame laterally of the chassis by the said hydraulic cylinder, bell cranks pivotally mounted on the said intermediate frame, means suspending the hood from the bell cranks, a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the said intermediate frame for actuating the bell cranks to raise and lower the said hood, and fuel burning nozzles extended into the said hood.

CLARENCE W. SOWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 759,531 King May 10, 1904 1,415,491 Souther May 9, 1922 1,453,552 Fuller et al May 1, 1923 1,516,141 Bledsoe Nov. 18, 1924 1,702,546 Owens et al. Feb. 19, 1929 1,957,144 Littleford May 1, 1934 1,984,849 Van Allen et al. Dec. 18, 1934 2,273,254 Davis Feb. 1'7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 412,630 Great Britain July 5, 1934 425,631 Great Britain Mar. 19, 1935 430,403 Great Britain June 18, 1935 701,486 Germany Jan. 17, 1941 

